Osdorp in Amsterdam, North Holland, Netherlands — Northwestern Europe

Eduard Hellendoorn

Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, March 16, 2024

1. Eduard Hellendoorn Marker

Inscription. Click to hear the inscription.

Eduard Carel Frederik Hellendoorn
Amsterdam, 29 november 1912 - Waalsdorpervlakte, 13 maart 1941

De communistische kunstenaar Ward Hellendoorn zamelde geld in voor onderduikers en verspreidde illegale bladen. Op 25 februari 1941 riep hij metaalarbeiders op om te gaan staken uit protest tegen de deportatie van Joodse medeburgers. Hij werd verraden door een directielid van zijn werkgever Elsevier, waar hij na zijn studie aan de Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten als illustrator was gaan werken om zijn gezin te kunnen onderhouden. 'Ik heb als mensch geleefd met idealen', schreef hij vlak voor zijn dood in een afscheidsbrief aan zijn moeder vanuit de Scheveningse gevangenis. 'Treur niet. Ik ben flink.' Over de executie van Hellendoorn en zeventien anderen schreef schrijver/verzetsman Jan Campert het anti-Duitse gedicht 'De achttien dooden'.

(English translation:)
The communist artist Ward Hellendoorn raised money for people in hiding and distributed illegal publications. On February 25, 1941, he called on metal workers to leave strike in protest against the deportation

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of his fellow Jewish citizens. He was betrayed by a member of the board of his employer Elsevier, where he was employed after having studied at the Koninklijke Academie van Beeldende Kunsten (“Royal Academy of Visual Arts”) as an illustrator in order to work to support his family. “I have lived like a man with ideals', he wrote just before his death in a farewell letter to his mother from the Scheveningen prison. “Do not grieve. I'm strong.” About the execution of Hellendoorn and seventeen others the writer/resistance fighter Jan Campert wrote the anti-German poem 'The Eighteen Dead'.

Erected 2024 by Geef Straten Een Gezicht.

Topics and series. This memorial is listed in this topic list: War, World II. In addition, it is included in the Give Streets a Face / Geef Straten Een Gezicht, and the Heroes of the Dutch Resistance (GSEG) series lists. A significant historical date for this entry is March 13, 1941.

Location. 52° 21.08′ N, 4° 47.053′ E. Memorial is in Amsterdam, Noord-Holland (North Holland). It is in Osdorp. It is at the intersection of Eduard Hellendoornstraat and Jacob Paffstraat, on the left when traveling west on Eduard Hellendoornstraat. Touch for map. Memorial is at or near this postal address: Eduard Hellendoornstraat 31, Amsterdam, Noord-Holland 1069 PW, Netherlands. Touch for directions.

Regionally, it is in Europe,

the European Union,

Atlantic Europe,

the Benelux Low Countries,

the Schengen Area,

Western Europe,

and the Western World.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once the Roman Empire

and specifically also the Holy Roman Empire.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance

Eduard Hellendoorn Marker - wide view image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Andrew Ruppenstein, March 16, 2024

2. Eduard Hellendoorn Marker - wide view

of this marker: Cornelis Dijksterhuis (within shouting distance of this marker); Jacob Paff (within shouting distance of this marker); Jan Peppink (within shouting distance of this marker); Trijn Hulleman (about 90 meters away, measured in a direct line); Irawan Soejono (about 90 meters away); Ernst Cahn (about 90 meters away); Joop Woortman (about 120 meters away); Anthoon Koejemans (about 120 meters away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Amsterdam.

Also see . . .
1. Eduard Hellendoorn.

Overview: Eduard Carel Frederik Hellendoorn (29 November 1912 – 13 March 1941) was a painter and Dutch resistance fighter.

(Submitted on May 14, 2024.)

2. Audio Loenen - Eduard Hellendoorn A 480 (YouTube, 0:57, in Dutch). A short biography. Of note is that it is indicated that he worked as a painter for the Fokker plane factory, which clarifies how it came to be that he called on his fellow metal workers, as indicated on the marker. (Submitted on May 14, 2024.)

3. Jan Campert-“The Song of the Eighteen Dead” a WW2 Hero (History of Sorts, Dirk Deklein). A short entry on Jan Campert and his poem, as mentioned on the marker.

Excerpt: Campert is best known for his poem “De achttien dooden ” (“The Eighteen Dead”), describing the execution of 18 resistance workers
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(15 resistance fighters and 3 communists) by the German occupier. Written in 1941 and based on an account published in Het Parool, the poem was clandestinely published in 1943 as a poetry card (“rijmprent”) by what would become publishing house De Bezige Bij to raise money to hide Jewish children.

First stanza: (in translation):
A cell is but six feet long
and hardly six feet wide,
yet smaller is the patch of ground,
that I now do not yet know,
but where I nameless come to lie,
my comrades all and one,
we eighteen were in number then,
none shall the evening see come.

(Submitted on May 14, 2024.)

Credits. This page was last revised on May 14, 2024. It was originally submitted on May 14, 2024, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 213 times since then and 19 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on May 14, 2024, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.